Obama was a serial liar. Trump exceeded his dissembling so far in office. The best way to react to his comments is by believing the opposite of what he claims.

The same goes for Mike Pence - an unapologetic evangelical religious fundamentalist, a fascist extremist, a bigoted white supremacist, an imperial war cheerleader, an Islamophobe, Russophobe and homophobe, hostile to peace, equity and justice.

The neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post gave him feature op-ed space to lie and deceive, falsely claiming the US seeks Indo-Pacific collaboration, not control.

Pence lied saying "(w)e seek an Indo-Pacific — from the United States to India, from Japan to Australia, and everywhere in between — where sovereignty is respected, where commerce flows unhindered and where independent nations are masters of their own destinies."

Fact: Post-WW II, the US waged naked aggression on North Korea and Southeast Asia, aiming to advance its regional imperium.

Fact: Obama's so-called Asia pivot, continued by Trump, is all about reasserting America's regional presence, advancing its military footprint in a part of the world not its own.

It's trying to check China and Russia regionally, provocatively surrounding their countries with US military bases, wanting them contained and isolated, risking confrontation with one or both nations.

Permanent war is longstanding US policy. GW Bush infamously said: "You're either with us or against us." Neutrality and asserting sovereign independent rights by nations are unacceptable options for Washington.

The Clintons, Bush/Cheney, and Obama operated the same way, asserting the US right to replace independent governments with client ones, prioritizing global aggression.

The Trump regime is no different, at war with humanity at home and abroad for unchallenged global dominance - mutual cooperation with other nations a nonstarter.

DLT and Pence are geopolitical know-nothings. Their America first agenda puts ordinary people last everywhere, exploiting them, serving US monied interests exclusively.

Pence: The US "is committed to helping the (Indo-Pacific) build world-class ports and airports, roads and railways, and pipelines and data lines. We will only support projects that produce tangible benefits for the host country as well as our own."

Fact: America's agenda worldwide seeks its own interests at the expense of other nations and their people.

Pence: "Under our Indo-Pacific strategy, the United States will continue to work with like-minded nations to confront the most urgent threats facing the region, from nuclear proliferation to extremism and terrorism."

Fact: The only regional threat is Washington's aggressive presence, risking greater war than earlier on the Korean peninsula and Southeast Asia.

Fact: Terrorism is US created and support, showing up wherever Washington wants jihadists deployed.

Washington doesn't "protect" nations. It exploits them, threatening sovereign independent ones unwilling to bend to its will with regime change.

Pence: "(T)he United States will continue to exert unprecedented diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea" - demanding "complete denuclearization" in return for empty promises, wanting dominance over the country, not normalized relations it deserves.

Pence's claim about the US standing for "the rule of law and the protection of individual rights" flies in the face of its endless wars of aggression.

The notion that the US "seeks collaboration, not control," is belied by its rage to dominate all other nations and their people.

The American way risks ending life on earth if nukes are used to enforce its will.